Kamran Akmal threatens to sue former coaches

Kamran Akmal, the Pakistan wicketkeeper, has threatened to sue former coach Intikhab Alam and former assistant coach Aaqib Javed after they raised concerns over a run-out he missed during the Sydney Test against Australia earlier in the year, hinting it may have been more than just a cricketing error. The questions over Kamran's keeping were made during their meeting with the six-man committee set up to inquire into Pakistan's winless tour of Australia, and had emerged in a video leaked to a leading Pakistan sports channel.

"I am fed up with these allegations. My family is disturbed. I go out and people hoot me and I am mentally disturbed. I want to clear this unwarranted stigma with my name," Kamran told Reuters. "I want an apology from these people. I will be speaking to the chairman of the board about this as they are employees of the board. If they don't apologise I intend to go to court in my personal capacity.

"The point is (if) these people suspected me of deliberately under-performing why did they keep on selecting me for other matches," Akmal said.

Kamran dropped Michael Hussey thrice in Sydney, enabling Australia to fight back and eventually beat Pakistan, but the lapse that aroused suspicion was when he failed to take off the bails to run out Shane Watson despite having collected the ball cleanly. When asked by the committee if Kamran's lapse had been deliberate, Aaqib had said: "I'm not sure, but my suspicions are pretty high. They are high because of other things I know about the process, the people in the surroundings. There is a high percentage. These things are not new in Pakistan cricket. These things have happened and I was a victim of them. There is a question mark, yes."

When Intikhab was posed the same question, he said: "That run-out I saw, I was flabbergasted. If you see it, it is shocking….the ball came, he was diving so far out, what can I say? We couldn't believe it."

The PCB, upon the inquiry's conclusion, said there was no evidence of match-fixing and the chapter was closed. The ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACSU), however, is currently investigating the tour to establish whether Pakistan's performance was the result of what it called a "dysfunctional" team or "something more serious."